2nd Test Match Day 3.

England were nearly as appalling batting this morning as they have been at any time in the previous seven days of Ashes cricket.

Inept! 325 all out. There were some excuses today as yesterday's brilliant batting conditions were not to be repeated but watching Brook not understanding what to do with bouncers brought tears to the eyes. Even I know the answer to that one - get out of the way and don't waft your bat at it with a pull shot which, seemingly, is not to be found anywhere in your kitbag of cricketing strokes. He was a wicket waiting to happen. Rabbit in headlights!

The crazy notion that we could blast the Aussies away by playing a veritable plethora of poor cricketing strokes has been blown out of the water. This England side - which could, quite possibly, have won back the Ashes - is starting to look demoralised and beaten.

Weather permitting, the Aussies will have a two game lead by tomorrow and England look incapable of winning a single match of the three to play, UNLESS current tactics are abandoned.

It appears that I am not alone in my thinking:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66068007

Also:

What we are seeing here instead is a kind of nihilism, a self-protective cowardice masquerading as bravery. We hear a lot about bravery in the context of this England, but has there been a more courageous cricketer on either side than Usman Khawaja, fearlessly weathering everything England have thrown at him, trusting unswervingly in his technique and his method in alien conditions? Is there not a courage in refusing to be indifferent to the prospect of defeat? Jonathan Liew - Guardian.

Our Cowardly New World. (Sorry, Aldous.)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12248829/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-days-one-worldview-permissible.html 

All Credit To The Vatican.

Vatican court sentences eco-activists to prison for damaging art.

Claire Giangravé   13 June 2023

(Photo: Unsplash)

Two environmental activists have been found guilty of vandalism for

 gluing themselves to a statue in the Vatican Museums. In the 

conclusion of the much-talked-about trial on Monday, Vatican

 judges sentenced the activists to nine months in prison and 

charged them a 1,500 euro fine with a suspended sentence of five years.

Guido Viero, 61, and Ester Goffi, 26, glued themselves to the statue

 of "Laocoön and His Sons," in the famed Vatican Museums last

 summer. A third activist, Laura Zorzini, filmed the other two in 

action with her phone. Zorzini was sentenced to pay a 120 euro fine.

Vatican City only has three prison cells, and its courts rarely 

sentence individuals to jail.

The activists belong to the environmentalist group Ultima 

Generazione, "Last Generation," which has become famous

 in Italy in recent years for drawing attention to the climate crisis

 through acts of vandalism targeting the country's famed historical 

sites.

"Nine months of jail for one gram of glue," Ultima Generazione 

commented on Twitter. "An exaggerated sentence, which doesn't 

want to recognize the drama of the situation that pushed to protest."

The activists will also have to pay a 120 euro fine for trespassing.

 Viero and Goffi will have to compensate the Vatican City State for

 the damage done to the statue for a total of 28,148 euros.

The judges decided the offense will not be added to the Vatican's

 criminal records unless the eco-activists transgress again.

Speaking to RNS on the day of the second trial hearing on May 24,

 Last Generation activists said they hoped Pope Francis would 

intercede for Goffi and Viero.

"He is more radical than we are," said Tommaso Juhasz, a member

 of the Last Generation. "If one reads 'Laudato Si' and what it says 

and what it demands, it's much more radical than we are," he added,

 referencing Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical promoting the care for the 

environment and the need for nations to come together to fight climate

 change.

Last Generation declined to comment by the time this article was 

published.

© Religion News Service

Butterfly.

 

Wrestler To Mayor.

Wrestler-turned-mayor optimistic about America's future: 'As people of faith, there is no challenge too big'.

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter

.

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs shares a weekly update with residents in a message posted on YouTube on June 24, 2023. | YouTube/Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs

WASHINGTON — A wrestler-turned-Republican politician urged conservative Christians to “remain positive” rather than “engage in negativity” as the United States finds itself falling on “hard times.”

Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, Glenn Jacobs, a former wrestler who went by the stage name Kane, was one of several conservative politicians and activists who spoke at Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority Conference Friday. While Jacobs acknowledged the difficulties facing the United States, including high inflation and the fact that “our schools have become indoctrination centers,” he contended that “it was a great time to be alive” in spite of the “hard times” the U.S. is experiencing.

“It’s a great time to be alive because the end of one cycle is approaching and a new cycle will soon begin,” he said. Noting that “everything in nature runs in cycles,” Jacobs pointed to Ecclesiastes 3:1 as a place where “the Bible talks about these cycles,” specifically by stating that “to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

After identifying “cultural Marxism” and the “counterrevolution to the principles of 1776” as the “existential threat” facing the U.S. in its current cycle, Jacobs maintained that “we can feel sorry for ourselves that we live in such a time or we can rejoice that we have the opportunity to shape the world that our children and our grandchildren will live in.” He pushed back on the idea that the challenges defining contemporary America are “too big,” asserting that “we serve a big God.”

“As people of faith, there is no challenge too big,” he added. After pointing to the suffering endured by Jesus on the cross and His subsequent resurrection, Jacobs declared that “the words ‘fear’ and ‘hopelessness’ are not, cannot be in your vocabulary.”

Jacobs asserted that “as Christians, we must set an example.” According to Jacobs, “We must remain positive and committed to what we believe in, not engage in negativity and concentrate solely on what we oppose.”

Additionally, Jacobs advised the audience to follow the advice of former President Ronald Reagan: “The person who agrees with you 80% of the time is your friend and ally, not a 20% traitor.” He surmised that “if you approach things from a place of mutual respect and friendship, you’re going to go a lot further than if you come from the perspective of constant confrontation.”

“We want to set ourselves apart, be positive, be constructive and, above all, have faith and hope,” he insisted. He concluded his speech by predicting that “change is coming” while “it’s up to us to determine whether that change is positive or negative.” Jacobs forecasted that the change “is going to be positive” and once again brought up Reagan by quoting from his famous declaration that “it’s morning in America.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is once again about to be morning in America and I do believe that our best days are ahead of us.”  

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

Jesus said ...

 

Looks To Be An Interesting Conversation.

 

I'm Afraid That I Find This Difficult To Believe.

June 2023 is on track to be the hottest June on record in a series which goes back to 1884.

While the forecast for the [last few days of the month] shows an unsettled picture with temperatures closer to average, this won’t be enough to prevent June 2023 being provisionally the UK’s hottest June on record, beating the previous record set in 1940, as well as June 1976 (part of the well-known summer of 1976), which is currently the second warmest June on record.

The Met Office’s Mike Kendon said: “With only a few days of near-average temperatures forecast for the remainder of the month, overall this June will turn out to be provisionally the hottest June on record for the UK for both mean and average maximum temperature.

Blogger: a number of mornings have generally been cooler than usual in June. There has been regular rainfall. Humidity has largely replaced heat - and you tend to first notice that at lower temperature levels. Early in the month, there were two days when we needed to use the central heating - unprecedented in June. We have had the bedroom window wide open on no more than five or six nights and the ceiling fan in our bedroom has only been used three times. I wear shorts in particularly hot weather. Some past Junes I have worn them throughout the entire month but this year, I have worn shorts for only about 70% or so of the month. It would never have occurred to me that this month could possibly be a record setter. Incidentally, there was no comparison with the scorching summer of 1976. I remember it vividly - I also recall perfectly how little sleep we had.

A Step in The Right Direction, At Least.

Our Barclays settlement is an important victory but the battle is not over.

Mike Davidson  29 June 2023 

(Photo: Getty/iStock)

It's not straightforward when banks close Christian ministry business accounts. The first loss is the reputational damage that the action implies, whether or not it's intended. Regular donors have to be redirected, assuming all goes well in finding a new bank.

You'd think that with two months' notice of closure, there'd be enough time to make the transition to the next banking house but this hasn't been the case for Core Issues Trust (CIT), the UK's only charity that offers pastoral counselling and psychotherapeutic support for those wanting to move away from LGBT identities and behaviours.

One of our projects, The International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC) focuses on equipping those supporting such people. The IFTCC, however, remains bank-less, and in today's climate we wonder if we will ever find a bank account.

Taking Barclays Bank to court over their unilateral closure of the accounts of these two Christian initiatives was never going to be straightforward. Now, after three years, we have some satisfaction in the £21,500 plus legal costs they have agreed to pay us. No court can force banking services or other providers to reinstate accounts, and now we know who Barclays are, we probably wouldn't want to continue banking with them anyway.

All had been well with these two business accounts until Pride-in-lockdown decided to channel their energy into getting CIT removed from the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland. The evidence is there on social media. The National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association jumped on the bandwagon and the saga is recorded in the critical incident reports sent to the Charity Commission at the time, and the police report to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

This was all necessary because of the physical threats against my family and staff, and the endless nuisance calls and vile materials sent to each of us for weeks on end. It was a difficult time because we were simultaneously permanently shut out of PayPal, Twitter, TikTok, Mailchimp and, of course, lost all our Facebook accounts. Never mind all of that. The real story is in the pathway back to being able to operate after cancellation, as a legitimate entity in the United Kingdom.

You'd think the Charities Aid Foundation's bank would be a likely option? Not so. Bank of Ireland? Forget it. Surely The Salvation Army's Reliance Bank? Not a chance. Well then, good old Revolut in the heartland of conservative Eastern Europe? Nope.

Community Guidelines are the issue - thou shalt not hold any viewpoint contradicting LGBT ideology. And that's just the basic banking. When it comes to merchant solutions (card machines and the like) World Pay refused us and more recently, the largest provider, Clover did the same - neither of whom will give reasons for denying access, having first sent glowing welcomes for promised new accounts. Who has the time to visit the Ombudsman? We can only assume they're all very highly-principled Stonewall-observant bankers. It's time for non-observant Christians to dig in and rise up.

The first hurdle Barclays threw at us was the jurisdiction issue. We shouldn't be bringing the case in Northern Ireland – everyone knows Barclays' head office is in England and that is apparently where the decision had been taken! How were we to know this and so commence a case in England?

However, the account had been opened, operated at Barclays in Lisburn, County Down, and that is where the organisations operationally are based. No matter, the case, they said, should only be heard in England because I had lawyers based in England. Fortunately, the county court judge wasn't having any of that and didn't strike out our case.

However, not content with their loss, the Bank appealed to the High Court and instructed King's Counsel. The case was set for appeal in the Belfast High Court and that's when it gets interesting. First, we claimed for £19,320.00, however we were prepared to enter into negotiations for less as is normally the case, when, would you believe it, we were offered more than we asked for. That's when it was time to draw stumps because we could not win more even if we took this to trial. We took the £21.5K with all our legal fees paid gratefully, along with no shared statement and best of all, no gagging order.

So as the UK is set to hear about the new government-mandated sexual identity legislation (aka 'conversion therapy' ban) let's wait and see how the Tories climb out of the hole that Theresa May's promise has dug for them.

Banning therapeutic choice, already controlled by the UK's Memorandum of Understanding which has included since 2014 a de facto ban on change-allowing work, is just evidence of the monocultures forbidding ideological diversity that have captured our institutions, including our banks.

I sense that the diversity that allows for ideological differences will provide the checks and balances that are now lacking. Lord Sumption, the former Supreme Court judge, was right when referring to the cancellation of the Free Speech Union's PayPal account saying "these ugly incidents ... should not be forgotten ... this problem is not going to go away". We intend to find a way whatever happens.

Dr Mike Davidson is founder of The Core Issues Trust.

I'm Sorry But How Can Any True Christian Remain In This Heretical Body?

Evangelicals in the Church of England are running out of options.

Julian Mann  27 June 2023 

                                    (Photo: Getty/iStock)

The latest attempt by the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) to hold up the launch in November of services of blessing for same-sex couples has little chance of becoming reality.

Ahead of the General Synod meeting in York in July, CEEC is circulating a paper by Dr Andrew Goddard, tutor in Christian ethics at CofE theological college, Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He says same-sex blessings, called in CofE parlance "Prayers of Love and Faith", which were approved by simple majorities in the three Houses of Synod (Bishops, Clergy, and Laity) at February's meeting, should be put to a vote requiring two-thirds majorities.

Goddard's argument is that, "as this is clearly a highly contentious issue", the "only defendable option" is for the bishops to follow Canon B2 of the CofE's rules, which "requires Synod's scrutiny and enhanced majorities" for new services.

Unfortunately, that tactic was tried in February and failed. The Rev Patrick Richmond of Norwich diocese moved an amendment requesting that a draft of the services be brought to General Synod "for approval prior to publication".

Though this amendment succeeded in the House of Laity by 104 votes to 96, it fell in the House of Bishops by 39 to 4 and in the House of Clergy by 106 to 94. Measures need a majority in all three Houses to pass, so by 241 votes to 202 Synod effectively voted itself out of the Prayers of Love and Faith drafting process and passed the buck to the bishops.

The Prayers of Love and Faith bus has departed and there is nothing CEEC can now do to stop it. At the pre-Synod press briefing on June 22, the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, said the new services "are on track for November". CofE evangelicals now belong to a denomination whose leadership has forsaken the traditional Christian sexual ethic and has earned the condemnation of the overwhelming majority of the worldwide Anglican Communion for doing so.

Officially the services will be optional. But there is a lack of clarity about the decision-making process for parishes. Will clergy be able to use them without approval by Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) or will the services require a PCC vote?

Will curates (assistant clergy) serving in churches whose PCCs have approved the services be allowed to opt out of taking them on conscience grounds? What about clergy in teams serving several churches with perhaps differing views on the services? Episcopal clarity on such issues is awaited.

Do Anglican evangelicals wish to remain in such a denomination? Do they really believe they would be serving the gospel of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ by staying in? Apart from the problems caused by the Prayers in Love and Faith services, do they think that a denomination in the depth of the safeguarding chaos the CofE is now in is a good place for them to be?

It is actually not too late for CEEC to start to co-ordinate an exit strategy out of the CofE. The large evangelical churches among its members have resources and they could lead the way. Of course, leaving would be difficult, risky and messy. Among the various hurdles, new meeting places would have to be found for churches and accommodation for their ministers.

But a manageable way of leaving might be for large evangelical churches to disperse around a city or town in groups of, say, 50 people each supporting their own minister. Through regional trust funds, the larger evangelical churches could help smaller churches in rural areas to leave the CofE as well.

The Goddard proposal would seem to indicate that institutional routes are running out of road for CofE evangelicals. They need to start tunnelling out! It would take just one large evangelical church to emerge beyond the barbed wire and others could follow. These orthodox churches could form a new Anglican federation in the UK, similar to the Anglican Church in North America, which launched in 2009.

In proclaiming and defending the biblical gospel and the legacy of the 16th century English Reformers, Anglican evangelicals should arguably be looking to the derring-do of the Allied escapees from Colditz castle during World War II for inspiration rather than to Canon B2.

Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire. CT.

Disgraceful.

Sweden faces global fury after Koran burning stunt: Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia join US and Turkey in condemning act which was allowed to go ahead outside Stockholm mosque as Eid gets underway.

• Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi man, set fire to a Koran on Wednesday
• The stunt has sparked global anger and comes as Turkey continues to block Sweden's bid to join the NATO military alliance after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Mail.

The Ashes Match 2, Day 2.

 I was livid about England tactics in the allegedly 'brilliant match' which saw England opt for defeat in the first test.

Yesterday, England's bowling was inadequate. Had it not been for Tongue ... The fielding was not up to scratch and countless runs were lost to no balls.

England were different again this morning. The bowling was as good today as it was mediocre yesterday. The remaining five Aussie wickets tumbled.

England made a splendid start with Duckett and Crawley and were even able to get past losing the latter for a 48 which had promised to be so much more.

Pope, Root and Duckett all fell victim to extremely ill-judged shots to short pitched deliveries  - indeed, Root was effectively out twice as the first time his wicket fell - it was to a no ball!

Appalling!  Wild heaves on a pitch from all of the top five batsmen to no purpose whatsoever.

England have treated the Aussies with contempt and will pay a heavy price.

I do not know if the word 'dimwittery' exists but if it does not, then I claim it for this bunch of players who have not been rational in their approach to Ashes cricket.

A shambles. Can this match be rescued? - I hope so but thoroughly doubt it with these attitudes! Wafting the bat in an uncontrolled manner at bouncers, with three fielders waiting out in the deep, is simply crazy.

Keyingham Chapel.

(Keyingham, pronounced something resembling 'cane gum'.)

I was in Holderness - East Yorks - only 48 hours ago and was interested to see that the roomy, modern Methodist Chapel in that village along with a small cottage, was being sold for a paltry £200k.

(https://www.frankhillandson.co.uk/property/302-keyingham-chapel)

My wife said "Oh, isn't that dreadful?' - Sadly, I was unable to agree. 

The Methodism of my childhood is long gone. I attended two Methodist Sunday schools as a child and learned a foundation of faith which blessed me years later when I had finally yielded my life to the Saviour.

I think back to those glory days under the ancient Mrs Cooper (she'll be well over a 150 years old now) and Mrs Grier looking after us young uns and the awesome ministry of the very Welsh, and awesome Reverend Thomas in the chapel on Victoria Rd in Mablethorpe, back in the 50s.

My grandfather was a Methodist preacher too (Primitive though) and he and Grandma were true Bible-following people of God.

There is every likelihood that Grandad preached in Keyingham, back in the day - indeed, he must have done - he preached in over 300 venues - most in East Yorks.

So why no regrets at this closure?

I do regret an apparent loss of Christian presence in that village, certainly but Methodism has now become toxic. There are still pockets of belief, here and there, but as a church - Methodism has opted to take an unGodly path. It is now over half a century from that time when preaching about Hell was banned in Methodist pulpits. Today, it has moved on to blessing sin!

So many of my Christian friends are former Methodists. They have been impelled to leave a corrupted organisation.

'Dreadful?' - Oh, indeed. But the closure of an heretical body is actually a blessing.

Whatever happened to all those mighty, Godly graduates of Cliff College who were on fire in the 70s and 80s? Did they change denomination or were they corrupted by this perverse, pretend church?

I pray for Keyingham that the remnant of people from that building who actually do love Jesus and His Word may succeed in Godly House Churches to serve the many locals who are unsaved.

May every church which has ceased to preach the Gospel and opts to misunderstand or ignore the Scriptures - irrespective of denomination - also FAIL!

I used to be involved with a Congregational Church. I was with the new Pastor when a very wise and seasoned Christian Pastor gave him some advice. "As soon as you start, your first job is to clear out all of the dead wood."

Years later, that 'new Pastor' said to me, "If only I had taken that advice." That church closed down a short time later.

Ignorant Protesters - CofE Promptly Yields!

Church of England cuts investment ties with fossil fuel companies over climate crisis

• Staff writer | Fri 23 Jun 2023.

  The Church of England Commissioners and Pensions Board have announced plans to disinvest from fossil fuels companies that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CT.

Free Reverend Samson!

#FreeRevSamson. Help overturn this travesty of justice.

Rev Samson is in prison in Myanmar/Burma. He’s been jailed because Myanmar’s military regime see him as a threat.  Why? He has been prosecuted – like most religious and political prisoners – on trumped-up charges under counterterrorism laws, which are routinely used by the military to silence opposition.  The reality? Rev Samson is a fearless advocate, speaking out against the military regime’s brutal oppression of its people, particularly religious communities. And it’s made him a target.  His most recent arrest and imprisonment came after he held a prayer meeting with members of the opposition National Unity Government (NUG).  To arrest, jail and prosecute one of Myanmar’s most prominent Christian pastors is a sign of how hostile this regime is to the Church, and to Myanmar’s religious minorities. Will you join us in calling on the UK government to do more to help free Rev Samson?

True Freedom.

 

Smile.

 

Butterfly.

 

Sickening.

 Roseanne Barr has been slammed for saying that 'nobody died in the Holocaust' and that it 'should happen,' years after she was canceled for her racist tweets. The controversial comedian, 70, made the comments on a recent podcast with Theo Von - saying that 'six million Jews should die right now because they cause all the problems in the world.' She's come under intense scrutiny for the comments, which were made in the context of comparing Holocaust deniers to election fraud deniers. But other people - including Barr's son and Von himself - have doubled down and stated she was simply being sarcastic rather than antisemitic. Barr, smoking a cigarette, said on the podcast: 'Comics, we're the last free speech art form. And as long as we're performing things aren't as bad as they could be.'

Carbon Dioxide Is Not Toxic, It is Not A Pollutant and Is The Basis of LIFE! Proof.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJB2jsKjQ7M

Indeed, Indeed, Indeed.

Cricket has been dragged into the culture wars by an activist minority.

Racism has no place in cricket but an ‘independent’ panel is not impartial – and history has been ignored

SIMON HEFFER27 June 2023 • 7:35pm

Report authors Michelle Moore (left to right), Sir Brendan Barber, Cindy Butts (Chair), Dr Michael Collins and Zafar Ansari CREDIT: PA/Josimar Senior

No sensible person, and certainly no sensible cricket-lover, can believe racism has any place in cricket at any level. It should not have taken the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, which reported on Tuesday, to work that out. And the remedy should be simple: that proven allegations should result in the instant dismissal of any player or official responsible for such behaviour. However, the commission is about far more than just that: equity covers gender [itself a subject in some jeopardy] and class, and the report wallows in them.

These are deeply political matters. In that context, the adjective in the commission’s title – independent – is interesting: independent of what? Of the ECB, certainly: but independence is not the same as impartiality. All five members of the commission have long records of progressive thought and activism. Any mildly conservative impulse among them that might take into account the more benign aspects of cricket’s history must be rare indeed. They represent a minority activist view and not majority opinion. The commission was chaired by Cindy Butts, who has a long record of anti-racist activism. She is also a veteran of the Metropolitan Police Authority, so had oversight of what is now depicted as one of the most disgraceful police forces in England. The ‘organisation and culture reforms’ on which she led, according to the commission’s website, clearly have yet to kick in.

She was assisted by Sir Brendan Barber, ex-General Secretary of the TUC; Michelle Moore, a ‘race equity’ expert; Zafar Ansari, the former Surrey and England cricketer who now practises as a barrister in a distinguished human rights set; and Michael Collins, a historian specialising in decolonisation and end of empire. That this group would fail to agree that cricket as we know it is a moral, social and cultural disaster was about as likely as Ben Stokes becoming pope.

The ECB set up the commission after the momentum created among activists by Black Lives Matter, a decision that was an overreaction and has led to some highly dubious conclusions and the proposal of an astonishing bureaucracy to police the game. The need to eliminate racism is beyond question, though the advocacy of ‘black-led cricket clubs’ seems at odds with a colour-blind game: but the report goes much further than that. As a result, the ECB has dragged cricket into the culture wars. If it thinks cricket will end up the better for it, it is much mistaken.

It points out that women professional cricketers are paid less than men. That might have something to do with commercial considerations – although women’s cricket has expanded its appeal in recent years it is nothing like that for men’s cricket. Men’s cricket will have to subsidise women’s if the pay gap is to be ended. An entirely separate women’s game, with its own governing body and finances, does not seem to be on the agenda. Why not? Because if it had to fund itself there would be even less money in women’s cricket than is now the case.

While the ECB is preparing to spend money on a diversity and inclusion executive, it is also told to consider class. This report has a profoundly Marxist taste because of its reference to ‘classist’ behaviour in cricket. At least it makes no secret of its own prejudices, by telling MCC (a private club) to cease hosting the Eton vs Harrow and Oxford vs Cambridge matches at Lord’s. MCC has been riven by arguments over this, and its members have made it quite clear how they feel – and the matches continue. Despite the veiled threat to award test matches on the basis of obedience to the new cultural norms, MCC should tell the Commission to get lost. It might also point out that the demographic of students that now dominates Oxbridge is remarkably similar to the one the Commission wants to create in cricket.

The commission complains that too few black youngsters play cricket; they hardly play it in the West Indies either, not because of incipient racism but because of the growing interest in American basketball; and the great West Indian teams of the 1970s and 1980s that inspired black people here are no more. People without the benefit of a private education dominate cricket not least because of the socialist policy, dating back to 1965, of abolishing grammar schools, the decline in club cricket (for a number of social factors unrelated to racism and classism) as a place for talented young players to cut their teeth, and the chronic refusal of teaching unions’ members to supervise games out of hours. It is all very well to tell the government to put more money into cricket in state schools: it won’t, and if it did it would be at the expense of funding for the NHS, or pensioners’ heating bills. What planet are the Commissioners on?

How credible is this report? It sought evidence, and the self-selecting group who responded numbered 4,156 people. It is on the basis of this tiny number that this report (branded ‘damning’ by the BBC, which seemed to love every second of it as it confirmed the Corporation’s view of the loathsomeness of white middle-class males) was compiled. It does call for further monitoring; and as in any responsible organisation, an assurance that people are not being insulted, bullied, discriminated against or treated other than according to their merits should be regarded as essential. But weaponizing cricket for use in the culture war (even to the extent of complaining about players drinking alcohol) and as part of a wider process of Marxist re-education, is not something the ECB can afford, for the sake of the game and for general sanity, to be sucked into.

‘Some of the information and language used in this report is potentially distressing’, the document begins. Too right it is. And it will be all the more so if the ECB take this nakedly political social engineering seriously, because it would threaten to undermine cricket fatally. DT.

Messianic Rabbi.

 Messianic rabbi points Jews, Gentiles to Christ in the heart of the Bible Belt.

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter

.

Rabbi Ari Waldman speaks during a service at Baruch Hashem in Dallas, Texas, on June 17, 2023. | Screenshot: bhsdallas.org

DALLAS, Texas — "Your application to be in the chili cook-off has been denied."

In a million years, Messianic Rabbi Ari Waldman never would have expected his congregation would not be allowed to compete in a Jewish-run Texas chili cook-off.

And yet, when the senior rabbi of Dallas-based Baruch Hashem politely asked why, he said he was simply told, "You're not a Jewish organization."

A sign sits outside the Baruch HaShem Messianic Synagogue in Dallas, Texas. | The Christian Post

"[They] never outright said it's because we believe in Jesus," said Waldman. "But that was the implication."

Waldman, a North Texas native who has served as senior rabbi of Baruch HaShem since 2017, is no stranger to sideways glances and puzzled expressions when he tells people he's a Messianic Rabbi. 

Sitting in his office against a backdrop of books on theology and history, Waldman recalled a conversation he had while attending seminary at The King's University in nearby Southlake, one he says is symbolic of his ministry.

One day, while having lunch with a friend, Waldman recalled being introduced to another classmate as a Messianic Jew.

"He looks at me and goes, 'So what's so important about you guys?' And I said, 'Not a lot, really,'" he said. "And he goes, 'Why is it important for you to have a Messianic congregation?' 

Waldman then pointed him to Jesus' promise in Matthew 23:39, when Jesus says to the Jewish leaders, "For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Waldman then explained that the original Hebrew of the verse would read something like, "We welcome you into this place."

"I said, 'That means He's not gonna come back until the Jewish city of Jerusalem welcomes Him back, and it's the capital of the Jewish state,'" said Waldman. 

"And he looks at me and goes, 'That's the first time that anybody's ever explained that to me from the New Testament.'"

Waldman said he's not bothered by such reactions since he recognizes that many Christians tend to think theologically only in terms of the New Testament. And while some may think a Messianic congregation would focus exclusively on the Torah — Genesis through Deuteronomy, the first five books of the Bible — they would be mistaken, he added.

"For me, Romans 11 is where it starts, where Paul says there's a particular role for Jewish people and a particular role for Gentiles," said Waldman. "The Gentiles are to provoke the Jewish people to jealousy for their own God … and the role of Jewish people is to be a light to the nations." 

If both parties are doing their job, he explained, then "that brings more nations to the God of Israel, then those 'more nations' provoke more Jewish people, so it's what I call a symbiotic relationship that only gets bigger."

The problem comes, Waldman said, when one of those two parties fails to fulfil their role — a failure of which, he added, both groups are guilty. CP.

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More Heresy Destroying The Church.

Eugene Cho-founded megachurch disaffiliates from Evangelical Covenant Church By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor.

The Seattle-based megachurch Quest Church has announced its departure from the Evangelical Covenant Church as it faced potential expulsion over the congregation's support for the LGBT movement.

Quest Pastor Gail Song Bantum posted a statement to Facebook on Monday to announce the church's decision to disaffiliate from the denomination after 21 years, citing the "ongoing pursuit of radical belonging for our LGBTQIA+ siblings." The church sent a formal letter to voluntarily disaffiliate on Monday. 

"We have discerned that, to be the body of Christ, we must embrace the fullness of God's life in all of our members, including our LGBTQIA+ siblings. This belief emerges from our identity and values as an ECC church, not despite this identity and these values," stated Bantum.

"We leave the denomination grieved that the ECC refuses to recognize God's work in our midst, and yet hopeful for the ways the Spirit is moving in our community."

The ECC is a denomination of under 900 churches in the U.S. and Canada that dates back to its founding in 1885 by Swedish immigrants. Its website boasts that it has become "one of North America's most diverse racial and ethnic denominations."

Quest Church was founded by Pastor Eugene and Minhee Cho, who first held a gathering of 11 people in their living room and officially launched on Oct. 14, 2001, holding worship at a warehouse. CP.